Wabana
by ErtheChilde
Summary: After a harrowing adventure, the Doctor brings Rose to a tropical paradise for a day of rest and relaxation on the beach. Of course, by now he should be used to his plans going completely wrong. Sunburns and sand in hard to reach places are the least of their worries when he and Rose end up in the middle of a space pirate attack. [TSL Timestamp 09]
1. Chapter One

_**Wabana**_  
_**by ErtheChilde**_

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'_Your faith is something I prize very highly.'_

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**Disclaimer:**

This story utilizes characters, situations and premises that are copyright the BBC. No infringement on their respective copyrights is intended by the author in any way, shape or form. This fan oriented story is written solely for the author's own amusement and the entertainment of the readers. It is not for profit. Any resemblance to real organizations, institutions, products or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All fiction, plot and Original Characters with the exception of those introduced in the books and graphic novels, are the sole creation of ErtheChilde and using them without permission is considered rude, in bad-taste and will reflect seriously on your credibility as a writer. There may or may not be a curse in your future as well, so be warned. Remembered all things come in threes, good and bad. Plagiarizing is considered bad.

**Warning:**

_Spoilers_ : If it existed in any form of Doctor Who canon, whether television, novelization or graphic novel, it's probably going to be mentioned in here. That includes up to and including 12th/13th/Whatever Doctor Adventures.

_No Beta_ : I am beta-less at the mo', so any mistakes are my own. I edit as I go, though, so it shouldn't be too bad.

_Canadian-Writing-British:_As a Canadian, I'm not all-knowing when it comes to British idioms, sayings or slang. I write what sounds right to my ears and when it doubt, I look things up on the Internet, so I might not always get it right. If I'm way off about something, please drop me a line and I'll correct it.

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**ONE**

The Doctor grimaced at himself in the mirror, trying to make sure that he'd managed to get the last of the Ccalras bile off of his skin. He'd already scrubbed himself raw, but with ears like his, he wouldn't be surprised if some of the stuff stayed in the hardest-to-reach places.

His attempts at bringing Rose out for a nice brunch after their rather grim adventures on Thedas hadn't exactly gone to plan…

Striding into his room, he threw on whatever was closest (and cleanest), pausing only when he accidentally grabbed two jumpers instead of one. For a tenth of a second he considered which one to wear – Rose liked the green one, but he had an irrational fondness for the maroon one, something he attributed to the fact he'd been wearing that when he met her – before he realized what he was doing.

Time Lords did _not_ choose their clothing based on the preferences of their companions.

He scowled and reached for a completely different jumper, not even bothering to look at the colour, and stalked from the room.

He very deliberately didn't think on the near lapse into…_domesticity_. In fact, in order to make sure it didn't happen again, they should hurry up and land the TARDIS somewhere interesting. Or dangerous. Or in need of saving. It was the best way to remind himself and anyone else who might wonder about it that he was anything but tame.

He'd been meaning to see if the Land of Fiction had survived the War. He'd rather like to introduce Rose to some of the literary characters in the books she'd taken to reading.

Upon entering the galley for a cup of tea, though, his plans came to a halt when he found his pink and yellow friend sitting at the table, face in one hand and her brows drawn in either frustration or wistfulness.

Either one could mean a trip to see her mother in his near future; considering it had been almost two months since their last visit, he wouldn't even be able to put up much of a fight over it.

Clearly she needed a distraction too, and he was just about to suggest it, when she suddenly spoke up.

'Doctor, how long've we been travelling together?'

It sounded like the beginning of one of those rhetorical, entrapment style questions that the females of most species were so fond of and which led to rows if not answered properly. Not that he'd purposefully been paying attention to such menial cultural practices, but it was hard not to notice patterns like that when he was forced to sit through marathons of _EastEnders_ whenever they ended up back at the Powell Estate while Rose did her laundry.

Alright, so it had only been the once, but that didn't mean it couldn't happen again. Which made it a very important reason why visiting her mother was a bad idea.

He decided to play the oblivious card.

'Depends. Are we talking relative time or subjective time? And are we calculating on Terran measurements or by the arbitrary diurnal-nocturnal sequence the TARDIS seems to have adopted?' he asked with an ease he didn't really feel as he went to put the kettle on. 'Or is this about your cycle again? Because I told you, those patches I gave you should stop you from experiencing – '

There was a muffled thump and when he turned around Rose's head had fallen out of her hand and she was glaring at him, her cheeks tinged a darker pink than usual. 'No, that's not why I'm asking! And I thought we promised not to talk about that _ever_ again?'

The Doctor shrugged. 'It's a normal biological process, Rose, I don't understand this taboo your culture associates with –'

'I'd like to know in Earth time, relative to me, from the day you asked me to come with you, how long we've been travelling,' she interrupted.

He grimaced, not because he needed time to calculate – he knew it down to the exact picosecond, though he wasn't about to tell her that – but because he couldn't figure out why she wanted that information. What did it matter how long they had been travelling together?

Was she trying to figure out when would be an acceptable time to leave him?

No, she'd have come out and said it if that was it.

'Doctor?' she prompted. 'Wasn't meant to be a brain buster, you know.'

'Sixty-nine days and six hours, give or take a few minutes,' he answered, satisfied that he managed to turn the cautious note in his voice to detachment as he spoke.

'Hm. I thought it was something like that.'

He shot her a questioning look. 'Then why ask me?'

'Well, I wanted to be sure. And you're a Time Lord, so you're more precise, yeah?'

'And why'd you want to be sure?'

'Because we left on the seventh of March, right? Well, if it's been about seventy days since then, then back home it's May 16th.'

'So?'

'So, that means my birthday was nineteen days ago,' she explained. 'We were so busy with the clock man and then on Thedas I didn't even notice.' She made a face. 'I've been a year older for over two weeks. Or is it two years older? I did miss twelve months...'

He winced internally at the reminder of that particular blunder, and then shrugged. 'You can count your age from anything. I count it from when I started travelling in the TARDIS.'

'You mean you're _older_ than nine hundred?!'

'Not in the ways that count,' he rushed to assure her before she ask him how old he really was. He already must seem ancient to someone still in her teens. 'I don't think I was really alive until I left in the TARDIS.'

Rose was quiet for a moment, and then softly remarked, 'I don't think I was really alive 'til…that night at Henricks.'

The way she paused, they were both aware of the "until I met you" that she had meant to say.

Despite himself, his eyes sought out hers, and for a weighted moment something he had no name for passed between them. Before he could try to quantify it, he was already trying to pretend it hadn't happened.

'Well, then, sixty-nine and a quarter days old but nineteen biologically,' he declared, grinning at her. 'Happy Birthday.'

She chuckled, the moment forgotten. 'Cheers.'

'So what do you lot do on your birthdays, anyhow?'

'I dunno. I usually just go down to the pub with my mates, eat loads of junk food…maybe do karaoke. That sort of thing.' A pause. 'Can't exactly head home to celebrate this one, though, can I? Everyone thinks it's already happened.'

'Sounds boring anyway.'

'S'not as if I've got the money to do much else, is there?'

He shot her an unimpressed look. 'Rose. TARDIS. We can do anything you want.'

'Well, yeah, _now_, but –'

'So what d'you want to do?'

Best not let her dwell on her less-than-opulent upbringing; that usually made her either defensive or self-conscious.

"I…I dunno,' she admitted. 'We do amazing every day. It's like every day's my birthday, when you think about it.'

'No arguments here. But we should still make it an occasion,' he decided. He clapped his hands together, a plan already beginning to form. 'So – food, fun and friends. Think I can manage that!'

Rose looked speculative. 'So does that mean I should make sure to bring my trainers and a lock pick?'

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ErtheChilde story updates / news via twitter. Full series chronology on livejournal or dreamwidth. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter Two

_**Wabana**_  
_**by ErtheChilde**_

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'_Your faith is something I prize very highly.'_

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**AN: **I should probably mention this is a more relaxed story than the usual fast-paced action you guys have gotten used to. While not quite so introspective as _Curtains_, it's once again low on action. At least until the around the halfway mark

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**TWO**

The Doctor may have been her best friend and he may have been a Time Lord who spent his entire life travelling through time and space, but it didn't mean that Rose trusted his driving.

Even as he ordered her to push that button and crank this lever, talking pompously about bringing her to a planet known for its fairgrounds and acrobatic performances, where aliens and humans lived alongside each other in peace, she was mentally preparing herself to end up on a cold, hostile moon somewhere that ate humans in some kind of cannibalistic ritual.

Their last two visits to alien worlds hadn't exactly gone well.

'And we're here,' the Doctor announced, in time with the TARDIS easing into stillness.

Rose quirked an eyebrow. 'Really?'

'Think I'd know if we'd landed or not,' he retorted. 'Right outside, Rose Tyler, guaranteed holiday for you.'

'It's just, you've something of a track record. Should I go put on a suit of armour before going out?' she joked, heading for the door to examine exactly where he'd brought them today.

'I'm trying not to be insulted,' he sniffed.

'I'm not trying to insult you,' she placated as she reached the door. 'I'm just saying that, you're not as in control of the flight plan as you like to pretend you are. Pretty sure that the TARDIS…'

She trailed off as she opened the door and gazed out at the world that was waiting for her. It wasn't a fairground or anything like what he had been talking about, but Rose was so amazed she didn't even care.

Miles and miles of shining white sand stretched out before her, icy blue water lapping over it. Moss covered rocks and cliffs seemed to grow straight out of the ocean, where tumultuous waters crashed against them. Rolling moors of orange and green grasses bordered this, mists topping the lush green mountains and rock formations. White birds flew across pink skies, and if she squinted out across the ocean she could see glaciers.

'I'll have that apology now,' the Doctor said smugly as he came up behind her.

'Where are we?' Rose murmured, trying to take in the sprawling world in front of her.

'Wabana. Planet made up entirely of island resorts – sort of like the whole place is made up of the Caribbean.'

'It's beautiful,' Rose told him earnestly, smiling up at him. Say what you wanted about his driving, he still always managed to show her something brilliant. Cannibals aside. 'So they have fairs here?'

The Doctor shifted uncomfortably. 'The TARDIS might possibly have suggested you'd enjoy a beach more than a carnival ground – but before you get clever, I was the one who chose to bring you to this specific planet.'

'Great choice.'

They stood together for a spell, and then the Doctor shifted impatiently. 'Well? You just gonna stand there looking at it or are you gonna get changed?'

'I'm going – wait. It's a beach, so…does that mean you're actually going to wear a swimsuit too?'

'No need. This is all for you, leave me out of it,' he deflected. 'Besides, what've I told you about sunburns? I've delicate skin, you know.'

'My arse,' she threw over her shoulder as she headed for the wardrobe. 'Fine, be a spoilsport. But remember, Doctor, leather chafes!'

'Oi! Time Lord! We don't _chafe_!'

She left him muttering in the console room and quickly turned into the wardrobe room. She didn't have very far to go to find the clothes the TARDIS had left out for her, and she grinned.

'Thanks,' she told the coral walls and ceiling before slipping into the beach gear: yellow top over black bottoms, a blood orange sarong, sandals, sunglasses and a white, wide-brimmed hat. 'Got me all kitted out, haven't you?' Underneath a sling bag and a fluffy purple towel, though, she also found a pair of Converse in her size. 'Hope those are just in case and not cos you actually expect us to run into trouble.'

She put them in the bag and headed back into the console room.

The Doctor's back was to her and he was typing something onto the screen. 'Took you long enough – honestly, what is it about females that everything involving the changing of clothes takes about two and a half times longer than for the males? Well, except for the –' He turned, mid-rant, to look at her, and for a second she imagined his eyes doing the same up-and-down flick that most blokes' tended to perform when they saw a woman in a bathing suit. ' – Er, Bandyloofs on Florb. Their entire culture revolves on the ritual behind putting on one pair of socks and replacing them with another. Granted, they're a bit like centipedes, so you can imagine how long that takes – but the point still stands.'

Rose crossed her arms at him. 'You done insulting me gender?'

'Who said anything about insulting? Was just pointing out a fact,' he shot back. 'Anyhow, let's go. The sooner we get registered, the sooner you can go add some melanin to that English complexion of yours.'

'Register?' she asked as they strode out of the TARDIS and he locked up. Can't we just, I dunno, set up on one of the beaches somewhere?'

'Could do, if you want to just sit and bake on a beach and then be hauled off by security when they notice you,' he answered. 'Every inch of beach is on alert for non-guests, as a precaution. They get pirates here sometimes and need to have warning systems in place. Also, if you want your free drinks and nosh, which knowing your stomach you do, you need something that says you're a guest.'

'And they are free drinks and nosh, aren't they?' Rose teased. 'I guess a beach resort sort of falls into the rewards for saving the universe bit, but I think it's pushing it.'

'Well, we don't _have_ to stay here, we could –'

'No-no-no,' Rose interrupted. 'Let's go get our guest passes or whatever.'

The Doctor smirked at her and gestured for her to head for a large, adobe coloured building with neon green solar panels.

'Welcome to the Wuruhi Kino Resort Quadrant, how may I help you?' the bored looking cephalopod at the desk said.

'We're here to check in,' the Doctor answered, rummaging in his coat for the psychic paper.

'Do you have a reservation?' the receptionist drawled, eyes flicking over the Doctor judgementally. 'New company policy is that reservations need to be made ten years in advance due to high volume of guests.'

'Ah, yes, here it is,' the Doctor held out the billfold to the cephalopod. If it had had eyebrows, Rose had a feeling they would be raised. 'I see! Forgive me, Miss Lampyra, I had no idea you had chosen our resort for your…holiday. According to the computer, your shuttle wasn't supposed to arrive until tomorrow morning…'

'Must be a computer glitch,' the Doctor said. 'But you can sort it, can't you? Wouldn't want to have to bring my employer elsewhere because of a minor mixup –'

'Oh, no, of-of course not! I'll rectify it immediately!' He quickly set about getting things in order for them, and the Doctor turned the paper around to see what had just come up. His eyes widened and he scowled, shoving it back into his coat, but Rose managed to see a bit of it before he put it away.

'Who the hell is Mona Lampyra?' she whispered.

'No clue,' he replied.

'What's it say you are?'

'Mm…bodyguard.'

Ah, that would probably explain the scowl.

'Well, you are dressed for it,' she pointed out with a grin.

'If you would just place your hands here so that I can imprint the VIP barcodes?' the cephalopod asked smoothly when they returned their attention to him. 'Scan these anywhere, and you can access all of the amenities of the resort. There are, of course, certain activities and trips off the resort that will be extra, but the barcode will simply add those to your running tab.'

'Cheers,' Rose said.

'You're very welcome, Miss Lampyra, and let me just say – we at Wuruhi Kino Resort Quadrant are ever so grateful you chose us as your destination this time,' he schmoozed. 'If there's anything else you and your, er, companion require, don't hesitate to notify the front desk.'

'Sounds good,' Rose said. 'And thanks!'

She waved her fingers and let the Doctor steer her out the back entrance of the reception area.

'That's that done with,' he said.

'Oh, I am so ready for this!' Rose declared giddily. 'A day of fruity drinks and catching up on the interstellar gossip? Yeah, we're never ever leaving here, you realize.'

'Think you're get bored of galactic bodice rippers after a few days,' he returned, amused.

'Are you kidding? Those things are hilarious! Though, are they still bodice rippers if none of the characters actually have a torso?' she wondered as they climbed down the sandy stair and out onto the beach proper.

Oh, this was going to be a brilliant day, she knew it!


	3. Chapter Three

_**Wabana**_  
_**by ErtheChilde**_

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'_Your faith is something I prize very highly.'_

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**AN: **Yeah, lots of Wabana lately…but see, these chapters are short enough that I can post quickly, while I work on finishing the writing and editing of other, more meaningful fics like _Crossed Wires_, which I know several of you are after me to write :) That way you guys get updates, and I get to prepare chapters in advance so the updates continue. Win-win, don't you think?

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**THREE**

The Doctor managed to stave off complete boredom for at least an hour.

While Rose stretched out in a hovering beach chair, flipping through the latest trashy gossip and nursing some sweet-drink that glowed like uranium, he crouched down in the sand nearby and set to work moulding a scale-model replica of a large hadron collider.

Not his best work, but sand didn't exactly have the right structure to out too many details in.

As soon as the finishing touches on the sculpture was done, he looked around for a clue of what to do next. In the distance, aliens of every kind of species were making the most of the warm waters, while even further out there was surfing.

It looked like fun, but he wasn't about to strip down to do any of that. It was enough he'd let Rose talk him into removing his coat, boots and socks – and really, he'd just done that for practicality. He didn't want to be digging sand out of his coat for the next month, and having the remnants of it in his boots would make any future running for his life uncomfortable.

He considered his companion out of the corner of his eye, trying to confirm to himself that his infinitesimal momentary lapse earlier had just been surprise at the sight of her such different attire than she normally sported and not something…else.

He had seen his companions in bathing attire before – hell when he first encountered Peri she'd been wearing some pink ensemble that would barely qualify as clothing, at least Rose had the sense to keep most of herself covered up.

It shouldn't _be_ anything else. He'd glimpsed Rose similarly unclothed on occasion and by accident, and she'd hurried to cover it up while yelling at him about some silly human contrivance like "privacy". But now, suddenly she was brazenly showing off the very same parts of her body without a care.

Really, sometimes he just didn't get humans and their bizarre ideas. Like one-way streets – how could you make a street only go one-way? Just by dint of it being a street it was obviously possible to go in two different directions…and that was without factoring in the various dimensional considerations beyond human understanding.

Irrational annoyance sparked at that thought, followed by very rational annoyance. He was a Time Lord! He wasn't meant to notice or think about anything related to the base physical attributes – like the fact Rose was an attractive human by the standards of her own time – of his own or any other species.

He was above it.

Though, if he were honest, she was also appealing to his own aesthetic. Gallifreyans were drawn to strong minds and emotional vitality, despite their penchant for focussing more on the former. And while Rose wasn't a telepath in any sense of the word, her psyche had a unique signature that pulsed with life and positive emotions which the Doctor couldn't help but be drawn to.

Or should be.

He was supposed to be more focussed on that aspect of it, if any, and not the fact that his companion was currently lounging about in no more than colourful strips of Lycra to cover her body.

Clearly ignoring his mental senses since the War had caused him to begin to focus on the baser physical and hormonal senses instead. He needed to stop that right now, if only because he didn't want his thoughts about Rose to move in a more inappropriate direction.

_Right. Distraction then, _he decided, looking around.

He wanted to go explore the rest of the resort, and while he had promised Rose a quiet day at the beach, that didn't mean he had to hang around while she basted in the sun.

'Gonna go have a bit of a wander,' he announced, jumping to his feet and brushing the sand off his jeans. They had seemed like a better idea than trousers today. 'I think they've got tour boats we can hire later, go see the planet's underwater ruins. When you're done roasting like a potato, that is.'

'Mh-hm,' Rose said absently, turning a page. 'Don't wander too far off.'

He opened his mouth to retort, and then noticed her watching him mischievously from behind her sunglasses.

'Don't start any international incidents,' he retorted. 'Dunno how you'd manage it just sitting there, but knowing you, you'd find a way.'

This time she did look up, grinning at him with his favorite tongue-touched grin. 'Considering who you are, I'm taking that as a compliment.'

'You should,' he replied, shooting her his own grin.

She turned back to her magazine and he headed off toward the long stretch of pier half a kilometer away.

It turned out all of the tour boats were hired out at the moment, but he managed to sign himself and Rose up for the next one in the evening. She'd definitely be done marinating by then, and if she wasn't he'd convince her. Rose didn't need much persuading when it came to exploring new things.

Until later, however, he needed to find something else to do. It had been so long since he had purposefully landed somewhere without even a hint of trouble, that he wasn't sure what he was meant to be doing.

Almost furtively, he whipped the sonic out and began to scan for anomalies.

Just in case.

To make sure the calm and peaceful day he had promised Rose wouldn't be ruined.

There was a loud shriek from behind him and he whirled around, the suddenness of the sound causing him to drop the sonic. He half expected some kind of sand monster or maybe even a fish person –

Except it was just some tentacled toddler screaming at her parents for an ice lolly.

He rolled his eyes.

'Domestic,' he muttered in contempt, bending down to retrieve the sonic.

Only for it to be tugged out of his grasp before he could.

His eyes flitted to the little canine creature that had taken it – a small orange creature that looked like a cross between a pug and a handbag – and he frowned.

'Drop it,' he ordered. 'That's not a chew toy.'

The creature cocked its head to one side, and then as the Doctor reached out to grab the sonic, turned tail and ran.

'Oi! Get back here!'

The Doctor took off after the tiny alien.

The little bugger moved quickly, though, racing through the various beach chairs and clusters of people, and there were several times when the Doctor thought he'd lost it. Only to see it sitting several yards away, watching him expectantly.

'Oh, playing games, is it?' the Doctor growled as the second time this happened he got within arms reach of the little cuss before it skittered away again. 'If your slobber shorts out any of the systems in that, I'll have you!'

The creature eventually led him off the main beach and up a few grass-covered sand dunes, which was fine with him because it meant less tripping over hapless bathers.

He rounded a particularly tall mound of sound, ready to grab the little mutt even if he had to run and tackle him, and instead found the canine creature once more sitting and waiting for him.

It dropped the sonic in the dirt and let out a proud bark, two tails wagging. The Doctor ignored it, instead intent on the other creature beside him.

Or visible part of a creature, anyhow.

The rest of it was buried from the neck down, the Doctor assumed.

The purple cyclopsian couldn't have been more than twelve, and was angrily and doggedly trying to dig himself out using just the wide brim of his baseball hat and his mouth.

'Hey, mister, can you help me out?' he pleaded, hope and desperation shining in his eyes.

The Doctor knelt down in front of him and pretended to consider. He'd never actually leave the boy there, but kids sometimes clammed up around adults.

'Could dig you out easy, but I think a story's in order,' he mused. 'Either someone's having a bit of fun at your expense, or you did something to annoy someone. Or a lot of someones. In which case, I think digging yourself out'll build some character –'

'My dad's in meetings all day – he's trying to buy the resort,' the boy explained. 'He's really busy, but he said he'd make it up to me. He even bought me this wicked cool organic compound detector to use on the beach.'

'And where is said wicked cool organic compound detector now?' the Doctor prompted, looking around. Something like that was expensive.

The boy's face turned a darker purple with shame. 'I…I ran into some other kids on the beach. I just wanted to hang around with them, cos they seemed really cool. And at first I thought they liked me too. And then we all came back here and some of the girls got the idea to make sand bodies – you know, where you bury yourself in the sand and they build you some weird torso to go with your head?'

'Have heard of that practice, yeah.'

'Well it got to me but it ended up they just wanted to stick me here and run off with my compound detector,' the boy sighed. 'I figure they'll eventually come get me again…Dad'll figure out I'm gone at some point and find me. But I've got an itchy knee and it's _killing_ me!'

The Doctor felt a mix of pity and sympathy for the kid. The obviously bullying bothered him as much as the kid's resigned tone, like he was used to people forgetting him. If that didn't strike a chord deep down in the Doctor's own memories…

'Well, that changes everything, an itch,' he decided. 'I know what itchy feet are like, but an itchy knee? Terrible affliction, that.'

The kid cracked a bit of a smile at that.

'What's your name then?'

'Martin.'

'Nice to meet you, Martin, I'm the Doctor – have you out of here in a snap.'

It was quick work after that to dig the kid up and lift him from the hole.

'Thanks,' Martin muttered.

'Now, let's go get your property back.'

The boy's one eye lit up. 'Really?'

'Well, it's not exactly foiling a megalomaniac's plot for world domination, but I'm allowed a holiday once in while too,' the Doctor shrugged, leading the boy and his dog back to the main part of the beach.


	4. Chapter Four

_**Wabana**_  
_**by ErtheChilde**_

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'_Your faith is something I prize very highly.'_

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**AN:** The chapter in which Rose is very much a teenaged girl…and a jeopardy friendly one at that. Also, that scene with the crustaceans? Totally happened to me once. I nearly had a heart-attack.

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**FOUR**

Rose yawned and stretched, nearly following out of her hover-chair as she did so.

As she scrambled to regain her balance, her magazine tumbled to the sand and she winced at the ache in her neck. It seemed she'd fallen asleep while reading and had been dozing long enough for the angle she'd fallen asleep in to lock painfully.

Glancing around, she saw that the Doctor was nowhere nearby. He probably hadn't returned while she was dozing, either, because his coat and boots were still lying there, socks stuffed inside. If he'd been back, he'd have no doubt put them back on again as a matter of principle.

When they had arrived, she had jokingly shamed him into at least pretending to relax, and he'd dutifully tugged off his socks and boots.

She was still a bit amazed at that, actually, both the fact that she'd managed to get him to give in to adjusting his wardrobe (it had only taken three months!) and the fact that his feet looked just as ordinary as any other bloke's. She didn't know why she'd thought they'd be different, but that was the Doctor, always surprising her. She still sometimes expected him to sprout another head or a third eye or something else alien.

With his feet so bared, Rose had felt oddly like she was seeing him unclothed, which was an unexpected feeling that made her blush just thinking about it.

Which in itself was odd, because she'd seen actual men completely naked before and wasn't really prone to blushing. There was Mickey, whose nudity she was completely used to and comfortable with. And before him, Jimmy, who'd been gorgeous and one of those blokes that liked walking around completely naked because he _knew_ he was gorgeous. And before either of them there'd been her GCSE tutor, Jonah, who had been skinny and awkward and fumbling and she'd spent more time laughing that time than blushing.

Anyhow, she'd seen more of any of them than their feet, yet none of that felt quite as intimate as seeing the Doctor flexing his toes in the sand. She felt sort of like she'd been caught ogling his bum or something.

Not that she ever would.

Ogle his bum, that is.

Even if it was a nice once.

She'd just noticed that in passing, of course. The way anyone might notice about their mates – the same way that she was abstractly aware that Shareen had excellent breasts and Keisha had lips that were perfectly shaped to be kissed – or do other things. And Rose wasn't even remotely interested in women.

Besides, noticing the Doctor or thinking of him like that…it was just, he was the Doctor. Not that that meant he was bad looking, of course – because he wasn't. Not exactly.

Rose frowned, trying to categorize him. He wasn't going to be winning any beauty pageants any time soon, but that didn't mean he was unhandsome. Maybe if his hair wasn't so severely cut, his nose and ears wouldn't be so prominent – not that she minded those, because they gave the hard planes of his face character – and if he smiled more…

_This is ridiculous_, she chastised herself, sitting up. _Next I'm going to start getting poetic about his eyelashes or elbows or something._

'Think I've been too many trashy novels,' she said to no one in particular, tossing aside the paperback that had been in the bag the TARDIS packed and swinging herself down from the hover chair. 'Time to explore!'

She wasn't sure when the Doctor would be back, and didn't feel like waiting around for him, so she started packing all of their things into their beach safe. Genius little thing, really, a box located beneath a trap door in the sand beneath her hover-chair. It had a combination lock and a message screen on it that allowed her to leave a quick note to the Doctor that she'd be back soon.

_Not like there's much trouble to get into on a beach,_ she thought as she headed off, thinking she might be able to find some nice sea shells to bring back home to her mum.

Of course, the problem with that, she discovered about a half hour later, was that all the shells she found along the beach looked exceedingly alien. Although their form was the familiar clam shape she'd come to associate with seashells, most of them were made out of some kind of gemlike substance and came in colours she didn't think actually existed on earth.

It made it all a bit of a quest after that to find shells that looked like they might come from Earth. Jackie wasn't the best when it came to explanations, Rose didn't want to imagine the story her mother might come up with to explain a seashell that looked like a giant amethyst.

She eventually found a shallow, secluded spot on the beach a bit farther than the main part of the resort, which seemed to have exactly the type of shell she was looking for.

Wading into the thigh-high water, she was amazed to find that it felt pleasantly warm despite the fact she could see a glacier floating far out along the horizon. Smile on her face, she closed her eyes, just to enjoy for a moment the utter brilliance of this beautiful world she would never have been able to see if she hadn't met the Doctor.

She might have travelled – she'd always dreamed of backpacking across Europe or America, seeing sights that were so far removed from the concrete and steal of the Estate – and watched sunsets and sunrises from different continents. She didn't know how she would've managed it, but she would have. She didn't have any debts any more – according to her mother, her severance from Henricks (along with a generous bit of compensation for anyone working the night of the explosion) had done away with those, and if she hadn't gone with the Doctor maybe she would have found a job that involved having to travel. There had to be something that existed that didn't require A-Levels, or –

_Oh my God, what was that?!_

Rose's musings came to a halt as something skittered by her ankle.

Glancing down, she saw that what she had taken to be rocks surrounding her in the shallows actually looked to be dozens of small, crab-like creatures.

Which were getting closer.

And had very worrying looking pincers.

She cast a look back up to the shore, and could see through the clear water that more of them appeared to be gathering, blocking her from walking back to the beach. The ones near her were getting way too close to her toes for comfort.

With a yelp, she made a shallow dive along the top of the water and started to heave herself out of the shallows and into open water. She was determined to get her toes and other important bits out of the way of those crab-things. She'd just swim the long way back to the main resort and walk up on a part of the beach that wasn't infested with crustaceans.

She swam far enough out that her feet were just able to skim the bottom of the ocean floor, and tread water for a little while to make sure none of the little bastards had followed her. She didn't think they had – they hadn't appeared to be swimmers so much as bottom walkers, collecting on the damp sand, but she'd rather make sure.

Once sure that she was fine, she started to swim back to the beach. Maybe when she got back she'd find her way to a cantina or something, she was getting a bit peckish.

The water remained pleasantly warm and clear, and she could see straight to the bottom as she pulled herself through the water. She wondered if there were anything like dolphins on this planet, and if maybe there were some places nearby where you could swim with them. It was always something she'd wanted to try back on earth but never had the money to even dream of experiencing.

It didn't occur to her for a while that it was taking her much longer than it should to get back to the shore.

In fact, now that she was paying attention, she seemed to be getting farther away from it even as she tried to increase her swimming pace.

Something was pulling her out into the sea.

_Rip current_, she realized with a sick feeling, instinctively increasing the amount of effort she put in to trying to get back to shore. No one knew she was out here! Cor, how could she have been so stupid?

She forced herself to think. What did she know about rip currents?

Really not much, except – oh, she was a right idiot, wasn't she? She'd been trying to swim against it. Wasn't that what people said never to do?

She couldn't remember exactly what direction she was supposed to swim in, though, and decided while she thought it over to let herself float on her back for a bit to give herself a rest. Maybe if she just lay there, eventually the current would let her go and she'd be able to swim out of –

She was torn from her musings at the unmistakable feeling of an arm wrapping around her from beneath.

Reflexively she screamed, only to have her mouth fill with saltwater as she was pulled under.


	5. Chapter Five

_**Wabana**_  
_**by ErtheChilde**_

* * *

'_Your faith is something I prize very highly.'_

* * *

**FIVE**

Although he had promised Martin to track down the kids who stole his compound detector, the Doctor hadn't factored in the sheer amount of whiny preteen life present on the vast beach. It had been an hour now, and although they had encountered at least five different groups of kids, Martin insisted none of them were the ones who had buried him in the sand.

'They probably all went back to the hotel already,' Martin murmured glumly. 'Should've known they only wanted to hang out with me because of the compound detector…'

'Yeah, you should've,' the Doctor agreed, and when Martin shot him an injured look, he went on, 'Common sense, that. If they didn't want to be around you until you brought out your flash toy, then it's your own fault. Don't be so eager for people to like you because of what you own. Impress them with who you are instead. I guarantee you'll end up with better friends because of it.'

Martin kicked at the sand, grumbling, 'What do you know about it, anyhow? You're a grown-up.'

'Ah, well – me, I'm of the firm opinion that there's no point to being grown up if you can't act a little childish sometimes,' the Doctor returned jovially.

'I guess…Bit weird, though. I mean, no offense, but not a lot of grown-ups care when it comes to a bunch of kids being jerks.'

'Well, clearly those grown-ups have forgotten what it's like to be a kid,' the Doctor snorted. 'Which is stupid, you know, cos grown-ups deal with bullies just as much when they're adult as when they're kids. Take me for example – I deal with bullies on a regular basis. And they're a lot less unpleasant than a bunch of cliquish kids. Doesn't stop just cos you're past a certain age.'

'Great,' Martin sighed, looking dejected.

'Oi! Stop with that face! I didn't say that means you let them get you down. Cos then they win, see? And we definitely don't want that.'

'I guess…'

The Doctor shot him an annoyed look. 'You don't put up much of a fight about things, do you?'

'What's the point?'

'What's the – oh, I'm beginning to see why you got stuck in the sand up to your neck. That dog had a lot more spunk than you, and he's run off.'

'Hey!' the kid cried.

'Well, it's true – what's the point of me helping you if you're just gonna mope the whole time?'

Martin glared at him, and then stomped off with a sense of purpose. 'Come on, let's try over here.'

The Doctor hid a smirk and followed him.

After another hour, they finally had a breakthrough. There was a little patch of green at the complete opposite end of the beach, a bit of an oasis of felled trees and tall grass just off the bounds of the resort. They could hear voices and jubilant shouts from beyond it.

The Doctor indicated to Martin that he should be quiet, and they slipped closer to the sounds. Using the helpfully tall grass to hide them, they looked down beyond the barrier of the sand dune.

_Found what we were looking for, _the Doctor noted.

It was like the kids had built some kind of secret fort here, and furnished it with objects that didn't belong to them. The Doctor could make out quite a bit of beach paraphernalia – a stolen hover-chair, coolers of drinks, surfboards with the resort logo scratched off – and in the back personal belongings – portable view screens, a solar parasol, various musical devices…and a compound detector the Doctor was sure belonged to Martin.

Martin made a move, like was ready to waltz in and grab his property while they weren't looking but the Doctor stopped him.

'They'll just trounce you if you get caught.'

'But I've got you here!'

'Not your hired muscle, am I?' the Doctor returned. 'And I'm not about to beat up some stupid kids for a shiny bit of tech. Besides, even if you did get it back, what about everyone else around here who's had stuff stolen?'

'So?' Martin didn't look impressed.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. Honestly, the children of the privileged class just didn't think about these things.

'Say these kids will be hanging around here for a while,' he explained. 'They'll just keep doing what they're doing – and seeing as how none of them are from the same planet or origin, it looks like this is some kind of club that just adds new members as people leave. They keep doing this over time, it'll become a never-ending stolen goods utopia.'

'They'll get caught eventually,' Martin pointed out. 'Why's it matter, as long as I get my compound detector back before Dad finds out?'

'It'll matter a lot to the next kid it happens to,' the Doctor shot back. 'And the one after that – and who knows? These kids might decide a life of crime gets them whatever they want. They might go on and do other, more serious stuff. They almost did today.' Of Martin's surprised look, the Doctor added, 'If I hadn't found you and no one else thought to look for you there? Tide could've come in, and you'd be dead.'

The boy looked understandably horrified at this.

'Point is, childish pranks sometimes become more than that,' the Doctor explained. 'And you don't want to be thinking later about what you could've done differently now. Maybe if your little friends there are stopped now, they won't decide to walk a dodgier path later.'

'Blimey, all that over a stolen compound detector?' Martin gaped.

The Doctor chuckled. '"For want of a nail…"'

The boy shot him an odd look, then asked, 'So what do we do? Call security?'

'Exactly,' he nodded. 'You head over to the resort, flag someone down. I'll stay here and make sure they don't leave.'

'Why me?'

'Cos you're dad's trying to buy this place, you said? Staff will probably recognize you better than me. Less questions, less time wasted. No go! Hurry!'

Martin squeaked and scrambled away from the green alcove.

The Doctor smirked and shook his head.

Honestly, he could have just gone out and confronted the kids. But he figured that Martin needed a bit of a push when it came to self-esteem, and foiling the deeds of a group of spoiled brats that were stealing people's things would do that bit quite well.

When Martin returned with the resort security, the Doctor suspicions concerning how long the beach thieves had been at their trade were confirmed, and the kids were summarily escorted back to the resort by security where they would no doubt be dealing with very annoyed parents.

With everything cleared up and Martin's property returned to him, the Doctor began to head back to find Rose.

'Well, that's done. Got to go find my friend. See you around.'

'Wait!' Martin cried out as he turned to leave. 'Can I…can I come with? It's just…there's not really anyone on the beach I want to hang around with.'

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. 'You spent the afternoon going from one end to the other and ran into how many kids?'

'Yeah, but…'

'You've got to put yourself out there, though, not let one bad experience ruin all the rest for you,' he lectured.

'I won't! But…at least let me say thanks? For digging me out? I mean – you could use my compound detector for a bit, if you want. It's got excellent range – and a lot of extra features!'

The Doctor considered the kid for a long moment. It was apparent that Martin wasn't so much looking for companionship his age, but possibly for someone to stand in for his blatantly absent father.

It wasn't an idea the Doctor was very comfortable with, for obvious reasons.

At the same time, it wasn't like he and Rose were sticking around here long enough for the kid's growing attachment to become worrisome.

'Why not?' he sighed, and nodded for the boy to follow him back to the spot on the beach where he'd left Rose.

Really, this was all her fault. All the time he spent with her was making him soft.

Of course, upon returning to the spot on the beach where he had left her, the Doctor discovered that Rose was nowhere to be found.

'Dunno why I'm surprised,' he rolled his eyes, striding over to the hover-chair and taking note that it was still occupied. All their things were gone, which suggested she'd at least put them in the safe before leaving.

Brushing sand off the top of the safe, he saw the note that Rose had left him – _Gone for find seashells for Mum. Be back in an hour, maybe we can get lunch! – _and checked the time that it had been left.

He frowned when he saw that it had been almost three hours. No sign of her having returned, and if she had, she would have left a different message.

'Right – she's obviously getting in to some kind of trouble,' the Doctor decided, pulling the sonic out.

'What's that?'

'Sonic screwdriver and errant companion locator,' the Doctor answered. It was a simple enough matter, finding her. She always kept her TARDIS key on a chain around her neck – and he had happened to notice in his split-second appraisal of her swimwear earlier that today was no exception – so it was a matter of scanning for that. 'Sometimes. If the situation is right – which it is in this case. Just need to lock on to – '

The sonic apparently had other ideas. It started to whir, then made a spitting noise and stopped working.

'Oh, come now, really?' the Doctor demanded, slapping it against his palm. It seemed he'd gotten sand into the system after all. 'See, this is why I avoid beaches. Sand gets bloody _everywhere_ –'

'Wait a sec,' Martin interrupted him. 'What exactly are you trying to scan for? Not a person, right? I didn't think sonic devices could do that.'

'If I'd ever found a way to add that feature, I'd've done it centuries back,' the Doctor affirmed. 'Rose has a key she wears. Don't think I've ever seen her take it off.'

'What material?' Martin asked, hefting his compound detector. 'Maybe I can set this to find it.'

The Doctor considered him with a measuring look for a moment. 'Does that model have a scanner and memory log?'

'Of course – latest model, remember?'

'So if it scanned this –' the Doctor pulled his own TARDIS key out and held it up to Martin, ' – it might be able to detect the proximity of another one.'

'Think so.'

'Fantastic!' the Doctor crowed. 'Well, come on then Marty-me-boy, let's find ourselves an ape…and hopefully she hasn't gotten into too much trouble…'


	6. Chapter Six

_**Wabana**_  
_**by ErtheChilde**_

* * *

'_Your faith is something I prize very highly.'_

* * *

**AN:** I love the fact Rose is an adventuring, down-to-earth kind of superwoman, but every now and then it's fun to have her teenage girl side come out. I think it's important to remind people, especially in the early days of her travels with the Doctor, that she really is a young girl and that growth into the Defender of the Earth didn't happen overnight.

* * *

**SIX**

Instinct kicked in and Rose began to furiously kick and fight against whatever had taken hold of her, trying not to feel panic at the wet, reptilian skin against her bare stomach.

She manage to get her head above water and began to shout, when suddenly the hands let her go and something surfaced behind her.

'Would you stop it?' whatever it was snapped. 'I'm trying to save your life!'

She was still trying to parse those words, when the hands took hold of her again, this time more tentative, as though in reassurance, but still strong. Although still tense, Rose had the presence of mind to notice that despite the current, she was quickly being towed back to shore and to a sea-level where she could touch the bottom.

Once her feet touched ground and she staggered out of her rescuer's grasp and back up to the beach, her foremost thought to regain her composure on solid ground. Once there, she turned to thank her saviour properly as he too came out of the water, and her eyes widened a bit at the sight.

Whoever he was looked to be about her age and was mostly human shaped. He was tall and powerfully built, with abs that she couldn't help admire even if his skin was a bit like a frog's, both in colour and texture. His hands and feet – only three toes, she noticed – were webbed, and he had a long sweeping tail. Instead of hair he had some kind of colourful, flaring fin or scale –

And a really, really great smile.

_Oh, he's a bit of alright, _she determined. _For an alien._ Her mind flashed to the Doctor, and she amended. _An alien looking alien._

'Didn't anyone ever tell you not to swim against the current?' he chided, although he continued smiling at her.

'Not really a beach where I'm from,' she replied, giving him a grin of her own. 'Thanks.'

'Well, for future reference, swimming by yourself's definitely not a good idea then,' he told her. 'Assuming you can swim.'

'I can swim – just, it's usually in a pool that doesn't have waves.'

'Boring pool,' he remarked, then held out a hand. 'I'm Taa – ' He broke off, looking a bit uncertain, which she had a feeling wasn't a normal look for him. 'Wait, this is how your species says hello, right? At least, that's what I learned in human studies – or is different now? The e-books we've got for the course are pretty out of date…'

'Nah, that's still the way,' she said, taking his hand. 'I'm Rose.'

'Well, Rose – there's a bunch of us down by the rocks, if you want to hang out,' he offered. 'Just, you're all alone, so I figure you don't know anyone here.'

'You figure right.'

'Also, if you decide to try to drown yourself again, I'd like to be on hand. You know, just in case,' he winked at her.

Rose couldn't help the light chuckle that escape. 'Yeah, alright then.'

She let him lead her up the beach again and back to more populated parts of the shore.

Taa's group of friends were all the same species as him, and also looked to be around her age. She wasn't exactly sure, because she knew that looks didn't automatically translate to age, but from the way they were horsing around and playfully insulting each other as Rose and Taa came up to them, she figured her estimates were correct.

She was introduced in short order to Kuu, Raamaa, Fiillii, Suu and Siikaa.

Taa and his friends turned out to be the typical beach-walker type. From what she gathered, they were all on holiday from a university on one of the moons nearby, and they were all rich. She got that sense from the way they would talk about their seasonal travelling plans and the antics of their household staff.

Rose was a bit uncomfortable about that aspect, but when it came to travelling she could easily share her own stories and soon had everyone entranced as she talked about helping to take down a species trafficking ring in the Horsehead Nebula and fighting a bunch of xenophobic panda-horse aliens with the Doctor.

Well, almost everyone was entranced.

The guys seems to like her fine, but the girls in the group were a bit shifty. She was used to this behaviour, though. It seemed wherever you ended up in the universe, cliques endured, and girls from anywhere tended to be like a pack of distrustful wolves when it came to strangers.

She supposed it didn't help that Taa was blatantly flirting with her the entire time.

'We're planning game of rndrsbl,' he said, sidling up to her and poking her in the shoulder with a ball that resembled an American football. 'You up for it?'

'Never played before,' she told him sunnily.

'Oh, well, that's easily rectified,' he promised her and tugged her across the sand to where the other guys and Siikaa were standing. After a lot of wheedling on their part, Fiiluu and Raamaa – who Rose had taken to be the stuffiest of the bunch – also agreed to play.

It didn't take her long to figure out what was going on in the game. It was a bit liky volleyball and baseball mixed together – and actually quite fun, for all it was difficult.

And the way Taa good-naturedly teased her when she completely missed the ball, and then beamed when she threw a particularly good pass.

For an alien, Taa really was fit. She could probably even get over the fact that he had a tail.

_So what, he's alien. Doesn't mean he can't be attractive. I mean, look at the Doctor – _

'Oh, damn it,' she blinked in realization, just as she slid across the sand and into the fourth makeshift base before Fiilluu could tag her "out".

She hadn't gone back to the spot on the beach to leave a new note for the Doctor.

Taa and Suu were cheering, hoisting her up on their shoulders, and she realized that she'd managed to win their team the final point.

The guys started to argue amongst themselves, which turned to a playful wrestling match on the sands. Rose and the girls backed away from it, heading back to the rocks where all their things were stashed.

For a moment Rose felt like one of the group – a feeling she had, admittedly, not felt very much of since she started travelling with the Doctor. And really, that was fine, because life really was "better with two".

Sometimes she just missed being around people her age, was all.

_Except certain things_, she thought when she noticed Raamaa and Fiiluu, whispering to each other later, nodding knowingly in her direction.

'There something you've got to say?' she challenged, trying to keep her voice polite even as the Estate threatened to creep into her words.

'Oh, it's nothing,' Raamaa assured her.

'Must be something, if you think you can't say it to my face.'

'I was just saying I don't know why a chav like you is looking so happy,' the girl told her with an unpleasant curl of her non-lips. 'Taa only asked you back here because you're on the list.'

'List? What list?'

'The shag-list,' Fiiluu spoke up. 'All of them have one.' She nodded at where the guys were roughhousing. 'It's a list of all the aliens they want to shag before going back home.'

'You know, back to _respectable_ society,' Raamaa elucidated.

'And human's on it, I gather,' Rose realized.

'I don't know why,' Fiiluu sniffed. 'Terribly common species, and you lot are everywhere…'

Somehow it sounded a lot more insulting when she said it than when the Doctor did.

Her fists clenched a bit.

She could brush it all off as the girls just trying to make sure she knew her place, or she could find out the truth from Taa and his friends. She knew they wanted her to do the latter, likely make a scene and show just how low-class they all thought she was.

'Rose Tyler!'

She glanced up and saw the Doctor, bounding up the way with a his usual grin and following a one-eyed kid with some sort of metal detector.

She couldn't help grin back. As far as making a good entrance, it wasn't his best but she appreciated it all the same.

'You wandered off again,' he accused as he came to a stop in front of her.

'Don't think you've suffered too badly – new friend?' she asked, nodding at the alien boy.

'Rose, meet Martin. Martin, Rose.'

'Hi,' the boy waved shyly.

'He helped track you.'

'Track me?'

'TARDIS key,' the Doctor beamed. 'Should to that more often.'

'Yeah, but that wouldn't be half as interesting,' Rose shot back with a laugh.

'And who are your friends?' he asked, nodding at Taa as he and the other guys returned from their wrestling and lumbered over. Rose noticed that his eyes were narrowing a bit as he took in each of them.

'No one,' Rose said honestly. 'Just some kids I was hanging out with.' She purposefully put an emphasis on the word _kids_ and looked directly at the girls. 'Think it's time to head back now, though.'

'You don't have to go,' Taa protested.

'Nah, I've had a bit too much sun,' she told him. 'Need a break.' She nodded stiffly to the others. 'It was great meeting you lot, but I have to get back.'

'Really?' Raamaa asked. 'But we were having _so_ much fun.'

Rose saw the Doctor frown, obviously detecting the false note in her disappointment.

'C'mon,' Taa wheedled. 'I'm sure your dad doesn't need you back right away.'

Feeling of disgust and horror and offense roiled through Rose at that, and she couldn't help sitting out, 'He's _not_ my father!'

The words echoed, and she saw the Doctor looking equally horrified and insulted. 'I'm _not_ her father!'

'Sorry,' Taa said, and Rose thought he didn't really sound it. 'It's just, you all kind of look alike to me.'

The Doctor opened his mouth, but whether it was to deliver a diatribe on how superior Time Lords were or to say something delightfully insulting about Taa's species, Rose decided not to find out.

'If that's true, you'll have no problem finding another easy mark for your shag-list,' she told him pleasantly, and grabbed the Doctor's arm to tug him away.

'_What_-list?' the Doctor hissed at Rose, and she thought she saw something blaze to life in his eyes. She was probably mistaken.

'Whatever,' she heard Taa mutter. 'Probably a lousy lay anyhow. I mean, if you'd rather hang out with that geriatric –'

She wasn't even aware of turning around.

One minute she was holding on to the Doctor's hand, and the next minute her fist was connecting with the side of Taa's face and he was on the ground.

'You can take your sodding list and shove it…wherever your kind shoves things!' she snapped, shooting him a two-fingered salvo and stalking off.

'Rose!' the Doctor exclaimed, although she couldn't tell if it was in admiration or admonition.

'Come on, Doctor, let's get out of here,' she ordered, not bothering to see if he was keeping up. If he felt like dealing with those immature _aliens_ in his own way, she wouldn't be bothered to stop him.

Knuckles tingling, Rose stalked away from the group, who guffawed and whistled at her deed, while good-naturedly teasing Taa. No one seemed very surprised or offended by her act, although she didn't miss the Doctor's expression of pride as they left.

It was a bit patronizing, really, and too close to the look of a proud father for her comfort. That image was far too disturbing to even entertain.

Glancing back, she saw that the group had started up another game, looking completely unbothered by her departure.

'Why are blokes the same all over the universe?' she asked glumly.

'Oi!'

She glanced up, taking note of the Doctor's expression of offense, and amended. 'Not talking about you.'

'That was brilliant!' Martin offered, surprising her. She had forgotten he was there. 'Did you see him hit the ground? He went down like a…like a…really heavy thing.' He finished lamely, and then peered up to Rose hopefully. 'Where'd you learn to do that? Can you teach me? That would be _awesome_!'

Rose couldn't help smile at the kid. She figured the Doctor might have something to say about fighting though, and opened her mouth to tell him so, when she caught sight of something in the distance.

'Um…Doctor?'

A dark cloud was rising on the horizon, blocking the sun and causing the water to somehow become rougher. Along with this, a palpable sense of unease stretched across the beach.

'Is that a storm?' she asked, squinting out in the distance.

'No,' the Doctor said, and she was surprised at how grim his tone had become. 'It's not a storm.'

'So what is it?'

'Pirates.'


	7. Chapter Seven

_**Wabana**_  
_**by ErtheChilde**_

* * *

'_Your faith is something I prize very highly.'_

* * *

**SEVEN**

'Pirates,' Rose repeated, like she hadn't heard him properly. 'What does that have to do with the storm?'

'Everything,' the Doctor answered, watching the rolling black mists move further inland. 'That cloud up there? It's a manufactured ion cloud – distributes inhibitors into the atmosphere in order to confuse satellite positioning technologies and disrupt any communications signals to and from the resort.'

'So no one can send out a distress signal or get to us,' Martin piped up.

The Doctor shot him an impressed sideways glance. 'Exactly. Then they set off a bunch of remote-triggered force-field projectors at different points around their target – in this case, this resort – and make it physically inaccessible.'

'Completely cutting us off,' Rose said, catching on, eyes fixed warily on the horizon. 'But doesn't that make it so they can't come in here either? Cos I don't see a ship.'

'You will, in a minute,' the Doctor said. 'Pirate ships from this era are usually equipped with short-range teleports big enough to move their entire ship. Follows a dedicated signal that allows them to teleport straight inside the area they've already cordoned off so they can rape, pillage and plunder to their hearts content while the authorities sit helplessly by. Then they teleport out before anyone can stop them, to wherever they originally came from.'

'But isn't…' Rose made a face. 'I dunno how to say it, but you know how with a mobile, if you go far enough underground or away from the network, you can't make a call? Isn't there only so many places they could teleport too?'

'Yeah, but it'd still be a big radius,' Martin explained. 'And Dad says the coast guard isn't big enough to police everything. Something about budget cuts.'

'Always comes down to money,' the Doctor rolled his eyes.

'So how do they keep this kind of thing from happening?' Rose wanted to know.

'The usual – develop technology to prevent these incursions – of course, then the pirates come up with something better, and the entire cycle begins anew.'

'So there's basically nothing to stop them?'

'Dad says that this place has a system in place to find out if there's an attack coming,' Martin explained. 'It's one of the things he wanted to upgrade once he's bought it – anyway, it detects the ionic change in the atmosphere a full ten minutes before the pirates get here. That way they can call the coast guard and get the guests to safety bunkers.'

'So why isn't that happening now?'

The Doctor tensed and looked away from the horizon, noticing for the first time that there were no security forces on the beach. No one had arrived to shepherd people off sand and there was no indication that any kind of defenses or shields had been put up around the resort. A few people were watching the cloud in the distance, but no one seemed inclined to go inside.

'For whatever reason, the early warning system isn't working,' he decided. 'Even if it went of now, everything's delayed. Priority would be to save the guests, so they won't even begin to mount defenses until that's started. And it hasn't.'

'Sounds like our kind of job,' Rose pointed out with a grin, her eyes gleaming at the prospect of an incoming adventure.

'Someone needs to stay and look out for Martin,' he remarked absently, hoping against hope she might volunteer for that.

'Hey! I can help! I'm not just some stupid kid, you know!' the kid remarked indignantly. I helped you find your girlfriend, didn't I?'

The Doctor opened his mouth to offer a sharp retort, but Rose cut him off. 'Nah, you're brilliant, Martin. Which is why we need your help here. Cos it's like the Doctor said, right? There's a ship gonna be there and no one on the beach knows yet.'

A sound like thunder rolled in the distance, and the Doctor mentally estimated the time before the actual ship might appear. They had perhaps a minute or two.

'You need to go back inside the hotel – get as many people off the beach to follow you that you can.'

'Go find your Dad,' the Doctor added. 'Get everyone into the bunkers. Save as many people as you can.'

'What about you two?'

Rose laughed at that. 'We'll sort it. It's kind of what we do every day. Should've known any vacation with himself would end up being just another day saving the world.'

The Doctor winced at that.

Although Martin hesitated another second, he saw that other people were beginning to take note of the ion cloud and nodded to himself. 'Okay, I'll do my best! Good luck!'

And he ran off to the people nearest, animatedly telling them what was going on and pointing them in the direction of the resort. They made horrified faces, and soon were staggering up to the hotel area, while the boy hurried on to the next group.

The Doctor's focus returned to the horizon, wrinkling his nose at the smell of ions in the air.

_Fantastic_, he thought darkly. Looming adventure or not, he wasn't keen on pirates. They harmed too many people for the sake of their own pursuits for him to have any respect for them, and pirates on Wabana…Well, they were a particular breed of savage, and known to take lewd assaults to the extreme. The idea of something like that happening to Rose…

He trembled at the black feeling that gave him, the idea that even he couldn't think of what he might do in response to that.

On the other hand, Rose had survived so much before and proven herself more than capable of dealing with the basest of human – and alien – nature.

The Doctor shot her a sideways glance. 'I take it birthdays on earth aren't usually this prone to life-threatening pirate attacks?'

'Yeah, not so much.'

'Ah.' He shifted uncomfortably and forced out the words that were still difficult for him to say, especially when he truly meant them. 'I'm sorry.'

'What are you talking about?' Rose was giving him a look as though he had suddenly sprouted two heads. 'This is the best birthday ever! Fruity drinks, pirates – and I knocked out an egotistical prat…This is so much better than the year we got kicked out of that club for being underage and Shareen got arrested for accidentally knocking out the bouncer!'

Warmth flooded the Doctor again and he beamed at her. 'Yeah?'

''Definitely.'

There was a sudden explosion, the sound having nothing to do with thunder this time, so much as the plasma cannon of the ship that had just materialized.

A three-masted solar schooner solidified into view, hovering above the water. Black and mauve colours had been hoisted, and instead of sails hanging from its masts, it had thick flaps that stretched wide like batwings that he knew were meant to harness solar light. With the ion cloud obscuring the sky, it couldn't rely on those, but the Doctor could see an exhaust port at the stern which suggested it was run at least with a partial mechanical engine when it neared land.

Beachgoers around them screamed in fright and terror, and suddenly the beach was filled with fleeing people.

'Come on!' the Doctor ordered, grabbing Rose's hand and leading her toward a small building at the opposite end of the beach that resembled a boat house.

'Plan?' Rose prompted as they ran.

'We've got to get to the ship before it makes it close enough to the beach for a boarding party,' he explained. 'Once they set foot on land, all hell will break loose around here – well, more than it has already!'

'How're we gonna do that?'

'Probably a water speeder around her or something we can use.'

They made it to the boat house, and the Doctor brought his sonic out again, smacking it a few times in an effort to make the sand shift enough that he might get a bit of use out of it. No time to return to the TARDIS to fix it just yet.

'Won't they see us coming and – I dunno – shoot us?' Rose asked uncertainly, keeping her eyes on the ship as long as she could before they entered the little building. It didn't take long to find an older model hover scooter.

'We'll skirt the inner boundaries of the force-field. They won't be monitoring the insides so much as the outside for any sign of the coast guard – that, and we'll have these,' he told her, reaching out and brushing Rose's TARDIS key where it hung on its chain. 'Told you about perception filters, didn't I? Just need to have a bit of a chat with the TARDIS about extending her filter to your key and we'll be set. Lucky us, she's close enough that I can and – damn!'

He glared at the sonic, annoyed that it really was useless to him after all. He'd have to do this manually, then.

'Definitely inputting a sand-proofing feature,' he muttered to himself as stowed the sonic again and opened up the engine of the scooter. He began to pull out wires and twist dials, re-connecting and re-attaching as needed.'

'Are you hotwiring it?' Rose asked.

'Sort of – resort property, so it's locked. Also, for safety reasons, these only go a certain speed Just need to by-pass the speed limiter – _hah!_ – and just tweak this to muffle the engine a bit – like so – and…give the man a medal!' He snapped the hatch closed again and slung his leg over the seat. 'Gotta meet an alien about a force-field. You game?'

'Absolutely,' Rose insisted as she settled in behind him and wrapped her arms snugly around his waist. He very studiously ignored the pleasant twitch of his abdominal muscles at her touch. 'You sure it's not gonna blow up with us on it?'

'Rose Tyler, don't you trust me?' he demanded, feigning offense and inordinately interested in her answer.

He could hear the grin in her voice as she answered, 'Always'.

The Doctor smiled and gunned the motor. 'Right – keep your head down and your hands and arms in! And whatever you do, don't throw up on me!'

* * *

I have put up a poll on my profile for anyone who wants to have some input in where Rose and the Doctor will end up in the next story I begin (I'm in the process of writing the first chapters to three new fics, and you can decide which one gets put up first!). Check it out! And, as always, thanks for taking the time to read!


	8. Chapter Eight

_**Wabana**_  
_**by ErtheChilde**_

* * *

'_Your faith is something I prize very highly.'_

* * *

**AN:** Grarr. This fic is trying to become longer than the nine chapters I had originally planned. Next chapter may or may not be the last one, depending on whether the story decides to cooperate or not _

* * *

**EIGHT**

It turned out the Doctor's advice not to throw up with him was a bit more difficult to follow than Rose had expected.

As they travelled across the surface of the water, making a wide arc around the centre of the ion cloud where the ship was located, her stomach was doing somersaults. The combination of too much sun and more fruity drinks than she should have had on an empty stomach was catching up with her. The scenery speeding by wasn't helping, and so she spent most of the short journey with her eyes closed and face practically pressed into the Doctor's shoulder.

The thick leather was absent and so she was chiefly conscious of the way his muscles tensed and relaxed under her cheek, separated only by the wool of his jumper.

_So _not_ the thing to notice right now,_ she scolded herself and forced herself to find another distraction before she actually did throw up on the Doctor.

'What's the plan?' she shouted over the din of the hover scooter's motor and thunderous approach of the ship.

'Need to get down into the ship, power down the engine!' the Doctor called back. 'It'll be a good distraction, and we just need to slow 'em down. See those solar sails?' She felt his arm move and cracked an eye open to see him pointing up at the ship. 'It's mostly powered by the sun, but that doesn't do any good if the ion clouds are blocking it. So while it's near the coast,, the pirates need a secondary propulsion source – in this case, an engine, if that exhaust port's any indication.'

'Peace of cake, I guess,' Rose swallowed. 'Then what?'

'Then we disable the teleport –'

'Which I _know_ you're good at –'

'And then we turn off the device emitting the signal for the containment field. Should be a relay with the teleport, if memory serves. These solar schooners are all pretty similar.'

'And when that's all done, the coast guard can get them without them escaping?'

'While you and I get back to the beach and celebrate. Banana daiquiri's all around.'

'Ugh,' Rose made a face at the mention of another drink and once more buried her face in the Doctor's shoulder.

After making it back around the ship and stowing the speeder just beneath some kind of exhaust engine, the Doctor lifted Rose so that they could climb up the back of the vessel. It was difficult for her, but with his guidance on where to put her hands and feet, they managed to make it up onto the deck.

_Not the first time I'm glad for that bronze, _she thought smugly.

They crouched down behind some crated and other miscellany, eying the ship and crew for a spell. Aliens of every colour and shape swarmed the decks – there were even one or two humans on board – preparing machines similar to the speeder she and the Doctor had used to get here, or preparing ominous looking swords and futuristic blaster-type weapons.

The Doctor nudged her with his shoulder, indicating a trapdoor several yards away from them which had been left open. It likely led down into the bowels of the ship, and probably to wherever the engine was.

The Doctor got up to go for it, but a wall of movement caught Rose's eye and she hauled him back by the neck of his jumper, wincing as the fabric ripped a little. Before the Doctor could glare at her, though, a very large golem creature with arms twice the width of Rose's waist lumbered by. The Doctor's path would have brought him straight into contact with the creature, and while Rose still didn't exactly understand perception filters, she figured the alien would definitely notice walking into someone.

The Doctor apparently recognize this as well, because his annoyed look became a bit sheepish.

After ensuring no one would gravitate into their path, the Doctor and Rose both snuck out from behind their hiding spot and down the trapdoor. There was a skeleton crew at work down here, most of their fellows up top, and so they were able to avoid them with ease. Still, Rose hardly dared to breathe, even as their eyes slid right past her.

The Doctor somehow seemed to know where to go, and guided her down several narrow, cramped corridors, until they reached a room that looked similar to an earth boiler room.

_Only with much more Spock_, she decided, taking in the various whirring and beeping alien devices in there.

The Doctor busied himself with something that had a lot of fans and wiring, and which Rose supposed must be the engine; in a surprisingly short amount of time, there was a small explosion of sparks and the smell of smoke.

Seconds later, the entire vessel shuddered to a stop and the ambient noise that Rose had come to associate with a moving ship stopped.

'That's that done,' the Doctor announced. 'C'mon, we've got to leg it before any of the crew come investigate.'

'Will they be able to fix it?'

'Unlikely,' he answered. 'But we've got maybe ten minutes between someone getting down here and discovering sabotage, to the captain deciding to teleport out of here as a precautionary measure.'

'With us still on board,' Rose realized in dawning horror.

'Exactly.'

'So where's the teleport?'

'If I had to guess, I'd say it's been moved to the secondary control room at the other end of the ship.'

'At the other end of the…? _Why_?' Rose complained. 'Wouldn't it make sense for it all to be in engine room?'

'On a regular vessel, sure – but on a pirate vessel? It's a security measure. That way no one crewmember has access to everything at once. Staves off mutiny.'

'Distrustful lot, pirates…'

'No honour amongst thieves,' the Doctor agreed, and there was a quirk to his lips that suggested he was amused by some secret joke.

'Speaking thieves…there's a full ship of them between us and the teleport. How are we supposed to get there without them catching us?'

'Very, very quietly,' the Doctor answered seriously.

They slipped through the lower decks together, skirting the walls and trying to keep out of notice. In spite of the perception filters, there were a few near misses when an ambling crew member almost knocked into Rose as they rushed past, intent on their own duties.

When turned a corner and finally got within sight of the secondary control room, however, they hit an unexpected hurdle.

One of the pirates, an anteater like creature with eyes like a cat, was just coming out of the room. Rose and the Doctor went completely still, expecting it to simply walk right past.

Instead it froze, and turned wary eyes directly on the Doctor and Rose.

'Bollocks,' the Doctor grunted, and before she could register what had just happened he leaped forward and pressed a finger to the middle of the creature's forehead.

Its eyes rolled back and it crumpled to the floor in front of them.

'What the hell was that?' Rose hissed, utterly unsettled by what had just happened.

'Telepathic species,' the Doctor bit out through gritted teeth. She realized his expression was pained, and his breathing had become laboured. 'Perception filters are all-but useless to them. Had to deal with him before he raised an alarm. Or worse. Now help me shift him before someone notices!'

Rose bit down a retort and did as she was told, helping the Doctor move him behind some kind of generator. That done, they nipped into the small control room. It was filled with boxy looking computers and various alien devices that she had no understanding of, but which the Doctor seemed perfectly at ease with.

He hurriedly started searching for something.

Rose wasn't ready to drop what had just happened, however.

'Why didn't you say that was a possibility?' she demanded. 'Telepathic pirates! And you just…' She made a motion with her hand, mimicking what he'd done to the alien. 'I thought you weren't allowed to just…go into other people's heads like that!'

'We've been over this,' the Doctor retorted. 'It's not going into his head. I just suggested…very strongly…that he wanted to take a nap. Just like that American agent in Dallas, remember?'

She had seen him do that before, but then, as now, he hadn't really explained it all to her. 'And putting ideas in someone's head is different from mucking with their thoughts _how_?'

'Put it this way,' the Doctor said, looking grim. 'If I had actually gone into his head properly? We'd both be in a lot more pain right now.'

That brought her up short. 'Why?'

The Doctor set his jaw in a way that told her he wasn't going to answer her. Coupled with the look in his eye, she determined that it had something to do with his people or the Time War. Or possibly both.

A sign to let it go for now.

'Would've been nice to know telepathic alien pirates were a possibility,' she muttered to herself.

'Why? It's not like you would've changed your mind about staying on the beach,' the Doctor grunted.

Rose considered that, and then nodded. 'S'ppose.'

While she kept watch the Doctor disabled it.

'There we go,' he said. 'Now they can't port off with us still on-board. That just leaves…'

He was looking around the little cubicle, a frown marring his features.

'What?'

'The device for the force field. If I know my solar schooner models, it should be in the same place as the teleport. But…' He trailed off and then eyed a spot in the corner of the room, where there was a gap in the alien looking machinery. 'I think they moved it.'

'They can do that? Just move parts of the ship around? Wouldn't that make it not work?'

'The relay for the forcefield isn't an actual part of the ship – more of a modification. And its location beside the teleport is just the standard on most schematics that I've seen.'

'So it could be anywhere.'

'Nope. I know where it is,' the Doctor frowned.

'So let's go to it.'

'Bit more difficult to get to than you think. It's likely on the deck – on the bridge, more specifically.'

Rose frowned, trying to figure out what he was saying. The nautical terms threw her for a moment, before she remembered a throwaway line from the last time she had watched _Star Trek_. 'Hold on – isn't that where the captain is?'

The Doctor nodded tersely.

'Oh, well, of course,' she let out a frustrated laugh. 'Cos nothing's ever easy with you, is it? Well, alright then, how are we doing this? I mean, I know perception filters work for sneaking about, but if we're up in plain sight then…' She trailed off, noticing the Doctor's silence. 'What?'

'More of the crew could be telepathic or empathic,' he told her quietly. 'Maybe even the captain, if we're really unlucky.'

He didn't need to say anymore.

Without any kind of mental resistance, she might be more of a risk than she already was. But at the same time, he didn't want to leave her on her own down here for the same reason.

Rose could see the consideration in his eyes, as though he was mentally calculating how to carry out the next part of her plan if she was with him.

'Go,' she told him.

'Rose –'

'Don't want you caught just cos I might think a bit too loud,' she insisted firmly. 'Lots of people on shore to save, remember?'

He nodded once, business-like. 'Won't be minute. They won't even notice me.'

'They'd better not,' she told him. 'Gonna need someone to rub aloe vera on my back. Pretty sure I got a huge sunburn today.'

She thought she saw something flicker in his eyes, but then he was looking away and muttering something under his breath about inferior epidermal resistance. When he turned back to her, his expression was sombre. 'Be as quiet as possible, and keep your thoughts to yourself.'

'Yeah, I know –'

'No, you don't,' he hissed. 'These aren't pirates like in your fairy tales, Rose, they're interested in nothing but their own gain…and if that includes harming someone…'

She swallowed and nodded. 'Alright, Doctor. I understand.'

He gave her one final, hard look, and then he was gone.


	9. Chapter Nine

_**Wabana**_  
_**by ErtheChilde**_

* * *

'_Your faith is something I prize very highly.'_

* * *

**AN**: Decided on the extra chapter after all. The next one should be the last, goddess willing.

* * *

**NINE**

Getting back on to the deck was more of a challenge then getting into the hold, it turned out. Unable to see out from beneath the trap door, the Doctor had to keep an ear out for anyone nearby before he slipped through the narrow gap and back out onto the deck.

Despite the perception filter, he still had to duck aside several times as busy crew members hurried past, while the bo'sun and the captain shouted orders from the bridge. The boarding parties were being held up, probably because the problem with the engine was being dealt with. They wouldn't send out any of the crew if they were going to just teleport out in a few minutes.

_Well, they think they're teleporting out_, the Doctor thought smugly, before becoming serious again. Once he turned off the relay, it needed time to power down. If the captain caught them before it did, they could be in trouble.

It was a very small window during which to get Rose.

He hadn't wanted to leave her behind.

Perhaps he should have brought her along after all. It wasn't too late for him to go back and get sneak her back to where the hover scooter was moored. At least then, if things went pear-shaped, she wouldn't be stuck on the pirate vessel.

_Not a good idea_, he determined a moment later. She didn't have the right psychic training to sneak about unnoticed through the ship and he just didn't have the ability to mask her telepathic presence with his own. That was a task which would have been difficult enough before the War, but now…

In any case, they were extremely lucky that she hadn't been noticed before.

If she were with him, he would be caught as well. Then there would be no one to turn disable the force-field relay. At any moment, the pirates might discover that their engine wasn't the only thing in need of repair. One malfunction could be seen as an accident – even expected, on a shoddy liner like this one – but two would reek of sabotage. And the fact that the other bit of damage he had done had been to the teleport, their primary means of escape?

Any intelligent captain would be leading the search of the ship themselves.

And what if they decided to stay in the safety of the containment field long enough to fix all the problems, all the while ravaging the beach and the people holed up in the resort?

No, he had to deal with the relay himself and _then_ go back for Rose. It was the only option.

More of the crew passed before his hiding place, and he caught snatches of conversation as they passed. Pirates were as bad as housewives, in some respect – they were notorious gossips.

' – dunno what the captain's on about, s'not exactly the plushest haul out there –'

' – not as rich as the Wakapi Mana resort – they've got diamonds set in the –'

' – heard it's not swag we're taking, but a ransom job –'

' – satellite chain heiress –'

' – never goes anywhere –'

' – some sort of sex holiday –'

' – family will pay a _solar system's _worth_ – !'_

' – be able to buy our own solar schooner after this job –'

The Doctor froze, their idle gossiping hitting a note in him. Tugging the psychic paper out of where he had stashed it in his jeans, he flipped it open and willed it to show him the cover story he and Rose had used to get in. He knew what it would show him – had been annoyed enough by it the first time, but now it had new resonance.

The identification of Myra Lampyra, the reclusive heiress to the wealthy satellite mogul Hiram Lampyra, and her gentleman friend. That last bit had been what bothered him the first time he saw it – he'd lied to Rose about it saying he was her bodyguard – but this realization was much worse.

The pirates had come to Wabana for Rose.

How they had gotten the information on them checking in the Doctor didn't know, and it wouldn't do to worry about it right now. He had to get that relay disabled and get Rose off of this ship as soon as possible. Ransom meant she was safe from harm for now, but if they discovered who she _wasn't_…

He felt a swooping sense of dismay.

If he hadn't decided to bring Rose here, the pirates might not have showed up.

_Then again, if we hadn't come here, the brigands would've just found another unsuspecting resort to pillage_, he acknowledged. At least with him and Rose around, they could stop them and take one more dread ship out of the waters.

It was a double-edged sort of logic, but he was used to that. Moreover, Rose seemed perfectly fine with it as well, which was a welcome surprise. Some of his companions had been known to overthink things a bit. He'd only fallen into that trap since the end of the War, but – luckily or unluckily – Rose seemed content to simplify those kinds of decisions for him.

He made a mental note to try to make it up to her once this adventure was over.

Whatever she said about birthdays, he didn't think taking down a pirate threat from the inside was really her idea of celebrating.

Approaching the bridge, the Doctor ducked behind several supple crates that had been stored there. It appeared he had hit another stumbling block. The helm was currently being dominated not only by the helmsman, but the captain as well: a dark skinned humanoid dressed like an extra from Pirates of Penzance. He wasn't sure of the species, but it was close enough to human that he could tell it was a female. She had tentacle-like appendages growing out of her head and six eyes like a spider.

More eyes meant more attention to detail, which might nullify his perception filter's effectiveness.

He just needed her to wander away from the helm, just long enough for him to –

A sudden disturbance interrupted the usual commotion of the pirates preparing their boarding vessels, and a sharp murmur of excitement broke out. The Doctor didn't have a chance to wonder at it, when a familiar shout rose above the din.

'Oi, watch those hands!' Rose snapped. 'Or…pincers.'

It felt like he had swallowed a bucket of ice.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid!_

Of course she had gotten caught. He had left her behind, so she had gotten caught – it was the centuries' long axiom that always applied to companions. No matter how much he hoped that _this_ time it wouldn't be true, it inevitably happened!

From his hiding place, he waited with bated breath for them to bring her into his line of sight, so that he could determine how serious the situation was.

There she was, being half-dragged and half carried up onto the deck even as she struggled. There was a bruise across her cheek and one of her bathing suit straps was torn – a white hot arc of fury lanced through him at that – but Rose didn't seem to have noticed that, too busy letting loose a streak of startling and rather descriptive curses at her captors.

_Might have to talk to the TARDIS about reengaging the swearing filter, _he thought dimly, forcing himself to relax and not leap out to her aid. If Rose was still in such fighting form, the pirates hadn't had a chance to do her much damage. Likely they had simply tried to grab hold of her while she fled and torn the strap that way. Besides…judging from the bloody nasal ridge of one of her captors, and the bright red slap marks across the face of the other, they'd been too busy trying to subdue her and bring her to the captain than anything else.

_But that might not necessarily be the case indefinitely_, he knew. Now he definitely needed to work fast.

Unwanted as Rose's presence was right now, it served as the distraction the Doctor needed. The captain was stalking away from the helm, and the remaining pirate at the wheel was obviously more interested in the drama unfolding in front of him than the control panel nearby.

As the Doctor slipped forward, the pirate with the nasal ridge shoved Rose and grunted, 'Captain!' grunted the one with the nasal ridge. 'We found a stowaway below decks. She might have something to do with the engine giving out.'

'I'm not a stowaway – not exactly –' Rose bit out, still struggling. 'I'm…I'm a journalist!'

The Doctor made a face at that, but kept working.

'A journalist,' the captain repeated, not sounding impressed.

'Yep! _Wabana World News_,' Rose insisted, nodding. 'Just started, really. It's a one man operation right now – well, one woman – but we're trying to branch out, go where no one else has gone! Tell the stories no one else has tried to tell! Like yours – I mean, you're pirates and all, but I bet no one ever stops to hear your side of things. Maybe you're in the market for a PR woman? Person? Thing?'

What the hell was she – ?

Oh, Rassilon, she was trying to be _him_!

The Doctor nearly nudge the wrong button as the realization hit him, his whipping around to stare at Rose with both horror and admiration.

_Aside from the babbling, she's doing a pretty good job_, he thought, noting how once free of the clods holding onto her, she was trying to seem as unconcerned as possible.

The only tell that she was terrified was the speed with which she was talking. Though to be fair, that was probably a defense mechanism. Maybe she figured if she spoke faster, no one would notice how resolutely she wasn't looking in his direction. Or better yet, maybe any telepathic crew member would think she was simply nervous about explaining herself to the captain and not because at any second she and the Doctor would be caught out.

He was surprised no one had tried a telepathic probe yet – but then again, the aliens who brought her up weren't gifted in that way. She must have gotten caught some other way – either seen at the wrong moment, or bumped into by someone.

_Or bumped into someone trying to go after me, more like_, he thought sourly. He made a mental note to call her out on that once they got out of this.

'A journalist, hey?' the captain sneered, moving forward and taking Rose's chin roughly in her taloned hands. 'Funny, you look more like the very, very rich heiress we happen to be looking for.'

With her other hand, she dug into the pockets of her greatcoat and held up a paper-thin digital broadsheet to the gathering crewmembers. From that distance, if he squinted, the Doctor could make out the grainy image of what looked to be security footage from when they had checked in to the resort.

Rose's face fell. 'Oh, bollocks.'

The captain laughed and took hold of Rose, holding her tightly by the neck.

'I dunno, boys, what d'you think? Engine trouble aside, I think the lady just made our job a whole hell of a lot easier, don't you?'

There was a chuckle that went up among the rest of the crew, and the Doctor swallowed.

Definitely not good.


	10. Chapter Ten

_**Wabana**_  
_**by ErtheChilde**_

* * *

'_Your faith is something I prize very highly.'_

* * *

**TEN**

_This is definitely not good_, Rose thought desperately.

Of all things she had expected to happen when she was dragged up on deck, being mistaken for the heiress she was pretending to be hadn't been one of them. Considering the other, worse scenarios working their way through her imagination, though, she figured she might be able to pretend long enough to –

_To keep myself alive_, she thought quickly, almost belatedly remembering the possibility of telepaths and resolutely not looking over at where the captain had been standing before.

If they thought she was this heiress person, they would probably keep her alive longer.

_Have to keep up the act_, she thought as she eyed some of the dodgier looking aliens – there was one that had wicked looking spikes everywhere, and another with hooked claws instead of hands – and her mouth opened to instinctively yell for help.

Some part of her still managed to stop her, though. Instinct might be telling her to call for the Doctor, but her brain forcibly reminded her that he hadn't finished whatever he had come up here to do yet. If the pirates weren't stopped, they might decide to take out their frustration at her deception on the people at the resort – people like Martin or Taa and his friends, who might have been tossers but didn't deserve being attacked and possibly killed by pirates hoping to make a quick haul.

'Oh, er, you caught me…yeah…' she tried to laugh unconcernedly. 'So, that's me. Thought meeting pirates would be fun, and it _totally_ has been, so…' She cleared her throat. 'If you'd be so kind as to just drop me off on the beach…?'

The captain laughed harshly.

'You really think it works that way? Must've been a recluse for a while, little girl. The galaxy doesn't work that way.' She tightened her grip on Rose's neck, forcing her to choke for air, and then released her roughly. 'We came here to do a job, and you're key to that, aren't you?'

'Yeah, but – I left all my, er, money back at the resort,' Rose managed as she found herself back in the clutches of the two brutes that had brought her up on deck. 'Could give you everything I have myself if you bring me back –'

'Mr Fletkbir, send out a wave,' the captain ordered the man at the wheel of the ship, and Rose saw the Doctor duck out of sight again as the pirate turned to do as ordered. 'Get the Mr Lampyra on the Com. Tell him we've found something that belongs to him.'

Rose winced.

'Um, yeah, that probably won't do any good – see, we're on the outs, not talking – probably wouldn't mind me getting kidnapped, really,' she babbled nervously. 'Something about learning lessons and all that.'

The captain eyed her with dire promise. 'For your sake, you'd better hope he's in a forgiving mood.'

Rose shivered, trying to think up something else to say – some other way to stalling before they discovered the lie, but there was already an echoing tonal sound across the ship.

_Of bloody course, she's got us on speaker_, she thought in annoyance.

The man at the helm had come down, brandishing a tablet-like device which he passed to the captain. She pressed a button, and a holographic display began to rotate in the air in front of them.

There were a few more seconds of the tonal ring, before the holograph suddenly solidified into a human shape – only about one eighth the size. The holograph looked like an older gentlemen with a handlebar moustache and an honest to god monocle.

'What's this? Who the devil are you?' he demanded imperiously. 'How did you get access to this Com line?'

'Stow the questions, Mr Lampyra,' the captain snapped. 'We've got your daughter here, and if you want her returned all in one piece, you're gonna haul out your cheque screen.'

'What?' the man demanded.

'Are you deaf, old man? We've got your daughter!'

'There must be some sort of mistake –'

There was a shuffling sound, and then suddenly the holograph image changed to a young woman dressed head-to-toe in some kind of burnoose and sun-glasses – which she whipped off so that she could glare out at them.

'Whoever you are, you've been duped,' the snooty voice echoed over the intercom. 'As you can see, I'm perfectly safe. I haven't even left on my holiday yet – and I definitely won't be coming there now! Goodbye!'

The transmission ended.

There was a ringing silence throughout the ship.

_Well, that's that, _Rose thought, feeling sick. _It's too bad, I liked living. Living was nice._

It seemed she'd finally by-passed the terror and started with the hysterical sarcasm. Was this how the Doctor always felt?

'Mr Creedy, Mr Miktoprott,' the captain said, voice a deadly calm as she addressed the crew holding on to Rose. 'Before we keelhaul this lying, vandalising stowaway, feel free to share her amongst the crew.'

'No!' Rose gasped.

'It's only fair, considering we passed up other opportunities just to get to you,' the captain sneered. 'And by Mortius, we'll get our use out of you before stripping this place to its bones.' She addressed the crew. 'No survivors!'

A shout went up and Rose began struggling again earnest, a futile fight against the much larger pirates holding her and now was definitely the time to panic and she started to scream for the Doctor when –

_BOOM!_

There was an explosion from somewhere behind the ship, and there was a lull in the shouting as captain and crew turned their attention toward where smoke and some flame were licking up into the sky.

It seemed that was all the time the Doctor needed to suddenly leap out from where he had been hiding, tossing a handful of wires and detritus into the face of one of Rose's captors, who loosened his grip enough for her to move.

She stomped down hard on his instep, causing him to howl and let go, and then the Doctor had yanked her away from them.

'Time to go!' he shouted, pulling her along through the now recovering crew. The alien pirates tried to go after them, but the Doctor led her in a ducking, dodging retreat to the other side of the ship.

'Go where?' she demanded, but was cut off when there was a crackling noise and then the sudden sense of the ion cloud barrier fading away. The sound of hover engines became louder, interspersed with sirens, causing many of the pirates to start to make a run for it.

It looked like the Doctor had managed to deal with the force-field relay.

'_Pirate vessel SS Rapier – we have you surrounded!'_ a computerized voice blared.

'To arms!' the captain yelled above the din, and the sound of blaster-fire and canons started up. 'If a one of you thinks about abandoning ship, I'll have your guts for garters, to the last man!'

The Doctor's hand tightened around Rose's.

'Run!' he ordered, grabbing her hand and hauling her to the edge of the ship.

'Don't you mean jump?!' she shouted as they vaulted overboard, plummeting into the warm waters below.

Sound disappeared as they submerged, but when they broke the surface it all came rushing back. The alarms and horns blared from the coast guard ships that were headed for the schooner. At the back of the ship, the remnants of the hover scooter were burning merrily.

'How'd you do that?' Rose gasped, spitting out seawater.

'Managed to get the sonic working for a minute,' the Doctor replied. 'Though…after this bit, it's gonna be a bit water-damaged.'

'You think?'

'Still your best birthday ever?' he countered as Rose treaded water.

With the engine disabled and the hover scooter's wreckage having blown a sizeable hole into the hull, the pirates wouldn't be going anywhere any time soon.

Despite feeling a bit waterlogged, she grinned back. 'Definitely.'

'Fantastic.'


	11. Chapter Eleven

_**Wabana**_  
_**by ErtheChilde**_

* * *

'_Your faith is something I prize very highly.'_

**AN:** Massive thanks to everyone who read this story. Special shout out to **TiaKisu** and **SusantheRedhead** for taking the time to review!

* * *

**ELEVEN**

Luckily, one of the coast guard hover ships noticed them bobbing in the water and sent a boat out to get them.

At first the officers in charge mistook them for pirates fleeing the stranded vessel, but with a quick flash of the psychic paper and a few quick words, the Doctor managed to convince the authorities that he and Rose had simply been out enjoying the water when the pirate ship appeared out of nowhere.

'Crashed our hover scooter right into it,' he explained, all wide-eyed innocent. 'Luckily we jumped off in time, but still. Bit of a shock.'

It was best that the authorities didn't know they had been involved with the pirates, or they might have days of giving statements and filling out paperwork ahead of them.

He winked at Rose when they weren't looking.

'You hear the stories, you know, but never think you'll get caught up in it,' she added to the Doctor's blatant lie. 'So we figured we'd stay out of sight – we didn't want them to shoot us or anything.'

Which, of course, the coast guard believed was a perfectly understandable reaction. They had the Doctor and Rose sit down, offered them blankets for the shock and sent a kindly lobster-red man to get their full statements. The Doctor rolled his eyes at this but complied, and soon they were being boated back to the resort.

Once they were deposited back onto the empty beach, the Doctor turned and raised an eyebrow at her.

'Investigative journalist? Really? That's what you went with?'

'It was the first thing to come to mind!'

He beamed. 'I'm not judging. Actually, was a bit impressed you came up with anything at all.'

'Well, I figured, talking yourself out of trouble works great when _you_ do it…'

'Yeah, but usually I have a plan.'

'You do not! Half the time you've got no bleeding idea what to do next and you only come up with it at the last second,' she retorted. Then she frowned, 'Unless you do actually have a plan from the start and just enjoy being dramatic and leaving things to the last second so everyone gets worried and then you can be more impressive.'

'Oi!'

'Anyway…I saw you doing something, so I figured you'd save us. You always do.'

His hearts trembled a little at that – he was both pleased by her faith, and alarmed by it. ''What if one day I don't?'

She paused to consider that, and then grinned. 'S'ppose that'll be one of those days where I save the universe instead of you. Don't worry, I don't mind. Everyone needs a vacation, yeah?'

'Or a vacation from a vacation,' he grinned, nudging her shoulder.

Rose started to head for the spot where they had left their things, but the Doctor shook his head and nodded to the hotel.

'Gonna have to wait for the lockdown to end to get our things,' he told her. 'Standard procedure during pirate attacks is to ensure none of the sand-safes can be accessed without the master override.

'Oh. I guess that makes sense…think they'll have something for sunburn?' she asked. She shifted uncomfortably, and he noticed for the first time the rather glaring red colour of her skin, which contrasted with the white strip that her now torn bathing suit had once hidden.

Again, fury at the idea of anyone manhandling Rose like that welled up inside, and he forced himself to calm down.

Nothing had happened, she was all in one piece.

_But she might not have been_, an annoying voice argued at the back of his mind. Rather than try to figure out which incarnation of him that stark reminder came from, he adopted a bright tone. _'_The hotel probably has a little shop, the way these places do. Bet there's someone who'll even put it on for you.'

'Thought we agreed you'd be doing it?'

There was absolutely no excuse for the way his stomach gave a queer little twinge at the idea of rubbing sunburn tonic over Rose's bare skin.

_Time. Lord_, his thoughts reminded him pointedly, the words in swirling, angry mauve against the backs of his eyes.

He swallowed and called up his most unimpressed, over-burdened expression. 'And get my hands all greasy? No, ta.'

'You're so gay,' Rose rolled her eyes.

'Yep – happy as a clam,' he agreed. 'Although, clams aren't really happy. Don't have the biochemistry to allow for emotions. Better to say happy as a mollusc, or a cephalopod, if we're gonna stick with marine…metaphors…'

Something clicked into place suddenly, and he faltered.

'Doctor?' Rose questioned when she noticed.

'Bit odd, don't you think, how the pirates came here specifically for some heiress but got her arrival date mixed up,' the Doctor said slowly, looking around at the interior of the hotel entrance chamber. 'In fact, it's really a huge coincidence that they thought you were her, don't you think?'

'I guess.'

'Except why would they have made that connection in the first place? Obviously this Lampyra person is reclusive enough that people don't know what she looks like – but they thought you were her. And that security footage they showed – anyone can tap into video feeds, but that particular video and the angle? Don't know why I didn't think of it before.'

'Let me guess,' Rose said, a grim smile on her face. 'Are the words "get the cops" headed in my general direction?'

'Got it in one,' he agreed, before heading over to the reception desk. 'Ey-up, chuck, got a minute?'

'Sorry, sir, I'm very busy,' the cephalopod manning the desk muttered distractedly. 'You don't know how many guests have been demanding refunds and reductions because of the pirate attack –'

'The attack you helped coordinate,' the Doctor pointed out. 'No one else could've beamed an image of my friend to the pirates except you. Not from the video angle I saw.'

'I don't know what you're talking about –'

'And no one else but you asked for her name, either,' the Doctor went on. 'Reception also has a clear view of the horizon – you're the one supposed to lock down the hotel in case of attack and ensure the security protocols. But it was near ten minutes before anyone even noticed the pirates – way too long a response time, don't you think?'

He heard Rose coming up behind him, and saw that she was flanked by hotel security and one of the members of the coast guard. At this, the cephalopod tried to make a run for it, vaulting over the desk and heading for the door.

The Doctor lazily stuck out a foot, tripping the alien.

'He's part of the pirate crew, no doubt,' the Doctor told the security force that leapt forward to apprehend the fallen desk attendant. 'I bet if you look into his background, you'll find he's transferred from other resorts that were hit by pirate attacks. Places where famous guests were supposed to be staying and where they managed to squeeze some hefty ransoms out of the families.'

The cephalopod sputtered as the coast guard ambled forward and scanned him with some kind of wrist-computer. 'I don't – you're making stuff up – I would never –'

'He's right,' the coast guard said. 'Not only that – wanted on three different planets for insider trading.'

The cephalopod let out a frustrated groan, and turned to glare at the Doctor. 'What about them, eh? Impersonating guests! Never would've been a pirate attack if they hadn't showed up, pretending she was worth money!'

'Not today there wouldn't be,' the Doctor returned as they carted him alone. 'But at some point there would've been. Think it all worked out rather well, don't you think?'

Rose beamed at him.

Then there was a cough from nearby.

A violently orange man with four ears and an overlarge nose was looking down on the Doctor and Rose.

'Thank you so much for pointing out the most unscrupulous behaviour of my former employer,' he said grandiosely. 'And saving the resort from what I have no doubt would have been considerable financial damages.'

'All in a day's work,' Rose declared.

'But…records indicate that he was telling the truth about your impersonation of an important guest...something which no doubt has something to do with her deciding to cancel her reservation here,' the man continued with a sigh, and snapped his fingers.

Two more security officers suddenly flanked the Doctor and Rose, grabbing hold of them.

'Oh, well, that's gratitude,' the Doctor complained.

The orange man shook his head. 'Normally, I would press charges for attempting to defraud the resort, but considering your help here, I will simply notify the shore police and let them sort you out. If you'll come this way.'

'As if we have any choice,' the Doctor grumbled as they were frogmarched out of the lobby.

'Can we at least get our things from the sand-safe?' Rose asked.

'Of course, miss, we are not _thieves_ here,' the orange man insisted haughtily.

They were shown to a secure room to wait while the rest of the guests and other witnesses gave their statements, both about the pirate attack and the arrest of the receptionist.

'So…not much of a prison, this,' Rose remarked, looking around the room after the hotel staff left. It was sparsely decorated, but there were two comfortable chairs and a basket of biscuits. 'Doubt they'd notice if we decided to sneak out.'

'Not worth it,' the Doctor answered. 'We'll likely get off with just a warning. And probably a lifetime ban.'

'Just?'

'Don't worry about it – plenty of leisure planets in the universe, this is only one,' he smirked at her. 'Though maybe we should avoid those for a while.'

'Yeah, I was thinking maybe it's time to head back to London,' Rose agreed.

He felt a swooping sense of dismay at that. He really had bollocked it all up. 'You want to go home?'

'Not exactly,' she told him hurriedly. 'But after today…think I'd like to do something low-key. Shopping in the 1960s, I think.'

The Doctor groaned, 'Fine. But I'm not carrying your things. A man's gotta draw the line somewhere.'

'Right…cos holding a shopping bag is so much more traumatizing than sneaking around a pirate ship trying not to be noticed by possibly telepathic aliens,' Rose deadpanned.

'Hm…and on that note, remind me next time we're cruising around the hundredth century to pick you up some matricite.'

'Some what?'

'It's a mineral. Blocks out telepathy – though, I wouldn't recommend wearing it too much cos it bothers the TARDIS a bit. That and it gives of a bit of a weird radiation signature – but it might be useful in an emergency.'

'Yeah, well, the only radiation I want to worry about for is the UV kind,' Rose grumbled, craning her neck to get a better look at her very red shoulders. 'Think they give detainees a complimentary bottle of after-sun lotion?'


End file.
